I Was Wild Once (And I Can't Forget It)
by longingparadise
Summary: Monkey D. Luffy is a Marine Commodore who was forced to join the forces when he was five years old. Today, he is known for his extreme anger issues and unpredictable mood swings – a loose cannon that Fleet Admiral Sengoku plans to control. To show him what happens to those that step out of line, he orders Luffy to visit Portgas D. Ace at Impel Down.
1. Chapter 1

**Did we really need another Marine!Luffy story? Apparently.**

 **Keep in mind that Luffy joined the Marine when he was five years old. He never met Shanks, Ace, Sabo or Dadan. That's why his characterization will be somewhat off. He won't be as easy-going (but he won't be uber-serious or edgy either). There are more reasons as to why he is the way he is, but I don't want to spoil all the fun for you.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **.**

 **I Was Wild Once (And I Can't Forget It)**

 **.**

 **1**

 **.**

There was something wrong with their blood.

Because most people who had the honor of entering the great Fleet Admiral's office, knew their place. They greeted their superior with a stiff salute, sweated while Sengoku ignored them and nodded along to everything he said. The Monkey Ds didn't belong to that group of people.

Sengoku had thought he'd experienced the full capacity of insubordination with Garp. Now he knew that the man had only been a foretaste of how horrible the future generation of his blood would be. His grandson Monkey D. Luffy possessed the unique talent to give him headaches like no else had managed to in Sengoku's seventy-seven years of life.

The door was slammed open. His secretary, whom he'd ordered not to let anyone pass, was running down the hall, panting and gasping so loud he could hear her in his office.

"Captain Luffy! Please leave immediately! The Fleet Admiral has asked not to be disturbed while-"

Luffy shut the door into her face. Her yelp sounded more surprised than painful which gave Sengoku the tentative hope that her nose hadn't been broken. These days it was difficult to find workers who were brave enough to deal with the lunatics roaming through the halls of the Marine Headquarters.

Luffy ignored the yelp. He strode towards Sengoku's desk, pulled a chair out and plumped down. "You wanted to talk about something?"

Direct and straight to the point. Sengoku preferred the meanderers and ass-kissers. His gaze travelled from the messy hair to the ridiculous flip-flops. If Sengoku was completely honest with himself, he'd seen far more outrageous attires in his office. But his headache was telling him that the sole purpose behind this careless appearance was to piss Sengoku off. Then he remembered that Luffy didn't care enough about Sengoku to purposely piss him off, and he got even more pissed off.

He took a deep breath. In, out. His doctor had been warning him about his blood pressure.

Luffy leaned his head over the back of his chair, folded his arms over his chest and stared at the ceiling. "Can you at least order some food if you have to keep me waiting?"

Sengoku bit his tongue so he wouldn't yell. It'd do no good. Garp's loud voice and heavy hand had made his grandson immune to it. His old comrade had told Sengoku that Luffy's supervisors had doubled and tripled his duties countless times to drive that disobedience out of him. He was no stranger to corporal punishment either. Yet the boy still sat in front of him, his obnoxiousness at an all time high. Sengoku would've long fired him if he didn't fear Luffy being an even bigger pain when he wasn't playing in their team.

"Where's your coat?" he asked through gritted teeth. The boy was wearing a tank top and a pair of frayed denim shorts like some sort of commoner.

"On the ship."

"Why aren't you wearing it? You represent the Marine. People won't take us serious if you prance around like a little kid."

Luffy shrugged. "It's hot today and the thing's heavy."

Sengoku leaned with his elbows against his desk and palmed his face. He would not get distracted by some petty discussion today. No. There was still a mountain of paperwork that had to be dealt with. The date of Portgas D. Ace's execution had to be set. All of that was far more important than the inconvenience sitting in front of him.

"You're being promoted. Congratulations, Commodore Monkey D. Luffy."

Luffy snapped his head back. His large eyes narrowed as his knitted brows set his face into a deep scowl. "No."

"What?"

"I don't want a promotion."

Sengoku smiled. "You've got no choice in this matter. You will accept your new title and resume your duties at the Grand Line."

Luffy stood up. His hands were gripping the back of his chair so tightly that white knuckles shined through the tan skin. The crack of wood splintering was like thunderstroke on a lonely night. "I don't want it. This is just an excuse to dump more work on me."

"You're right. We have to keep you busy if we want to avoid the collateral damage your unusual hobbies cause. Who knows, maybe you'll even get some sense of responsibility through your thick scull."

Luffy shrugged. Of course, he did. He was stuck at the maturity level of a toddler, after all. "I won't do it. Go on, give me more orders then. I won't follow."

Sengoku stood up. "Excuse me? You don't have that sort of choice, you little brat."

Luffy stepped closer until the desk was the only obstacle between them. "I won't follow. I'm sick of this. I don't accept the promotion."

In that moment, Sengoku didn't care about how counterproductive violence was when it came to this nuisance. He didn't care about the carefully arranged stacks of files and he didn't care about this entire goddamned building. He was going to teach this brat a lesson and if he caused a little chaos, so be it.

"I'll give you one last warning, Monkey D. Luffy. If you don't-"

A trembling shatter cracked through the air as his office door was blasted open. Sengoku raised his arms to ward the flying wood splinters off his face. It's not like he needed to see to know who'd entered.

"Garp," he said softly. This family would be his early death, caused by a stress-induced heart attack.

"Now, now." Garp laughed as the dust settled. "I could feel the tension all the way from outside." His large hand settled with a loud slap against his grandson's scarred neck. Luffy tense back eased into a slump.

Sengoku sighed. His office was a mess. The door had taken part of the wall down with it, files were strewn across the floor and everything was covered in a blanket of debris.

With a large smile, Garp ruffled through his grandson's hair. "Everything's fine, right?"

Not right.

The brat send Sengoku one last seething glare before walking out of the office.

"That kid needs psychological help."

Garp rolled his eyes. "Out of all the nutjobs we hire you decided to pick on Luffy? He's the least of your worries."

"I can assure you, he's pretty high on the priority list."

Garp laughed. "You're exaggerating. Yeah, he's got a temper. So what? It's only natural for a young man to be a little hotheaded."

Sengoku sat and shook his head. "These anger issues, these extreme mood swings… He's far worse than you even. It's a problem."

His old friend's face set into a deep scowl. "He isn't corrupt. He doesn't enjoy the pain of others. He's fair. Unlike some people who work for you."

"Yes, but I know how to control those people. A corrupt man wants money. A sadist wants an outlet for his sick desires. What does Monkey D. Luffy want?"

Garp turned towards the window. Brushing the dust off the glass, he watched the city underneath. When his gaze latched onto something, he followed it until it was out of sight. "Freedom."

"Will that desire conflict with where his loyalties lie?"

Garp met his gaze. "My grandson is no traitor." His tone left no room for discussion.

But Sengoku knew Garp for far too long to be intimidated by the underlying threats in his voice. "No? How can you be sure? He's got no reason to be loyal to us."

"Quit beating around the bush."

"There are three reasons, Garp. Three reasons why people join our cause. It's either money, power, or idealism. Luffy, however, doesn't care about his pay, isn't interested in exercising influence, and doesn't even know what justice means to him."

Garp sat on Luffy's chair and leaned back only to jerk forward when the backrest broke apart. With a sigh, he ran a hand through his gray hair. "Luffy's a good kid."

"I'm sure he seems like a splendid kid compared to the other one you've brought up. You know, the one who's in prison awaiting his execution date."

Garp shot him a sharp glare. Ace was still a sensitive topic to him. Maybe that's why he coddled Luffy so much recently. He was the good grandkid, after all, the one he'd managed to set onto the right path. More or less.

"I've heard far worse complains about Luffy," Garp said. "So if this is all you wanted to say-"

"No. I wanted to propose a plan. Something to improve his behavior."

"A plan?" Garp's brows soared up. "Since this is Luffy we're talking about, I hope you're preparing for it to fail miserably."

 **.**

His fingers itched as if little bugs had crawled under his skin and were trying to get out again. He wanted to punch something. Instead, Luffy kept walking down the familiar floor that made him want to throw up the delicious steak from lunch. It never tasted as good coming up. But these halls were so ugly he had to lock his jaw to keep his meal down.

The walls bothered him the most. They were white, like many other walls, but these were much worse. He didn't know why. He wanted to paint them a different color. Red would look nice. Maybe if he bashed his head against them. Maybe his face would become all twisted-up until no one recognized him anymore. He'd leave the Marine, take the ship, live somewhere on the sea and travel from island to island and-

"Luffy!"

He was outside. The cool wind felt nice against his hot skin.

"Luffy!"

Coby was running towards him, a big smile on his pale face. Luffy felt a laugh bubble up his chest. He met Coby halfway, not wanting to return to the building. "Coby! How're you? You're even taller than the last time I saw you!"

Coby grinned and scratched the back of his head. "I'm in a growth spurt. Why're you here? Didn't think I'd see you today."

Luffy remembered the old geezer Sengoku, the stupid promotion, and the bugs were back in his fingers. He stopped, his hand gripped around the stair railing. Why had the wind stopped blowing? It was so hot.

"Uh, forget what I said." Coby grabbed his wrist and pulled him along. "Anyway, your grandfather gave us some time off. Can you believe that? I thought holidays were a myth when it comes to working under Vice Admiral Garp."

"I thought that, too."

"Well, we're off duty for two weeks. I don't even know what to do with that much free time."

How much free time would he have until someone dumped the next job on him? Hopefully they wouldn't give him a bigger crew, he couldn't even keep up with the names of the men he was supposed to be leading right now.

"I want to have a break, too. Why can't we just decide when we want to go on holidays? I know better than anyone else when work's getting too much."

Coby laughed, a loud burst that trickled into a soft chuckle until their steps, the bustling of the city and the rocking of the waves were the only sounds left. "Wait, you're being serious?" He huffed. "Isn't that obvious? If everyone just quit duty whenever they wanted, there'd be no order-"

"Wow, that's really boring," Luffy interrupted.

Coby muttered something under his breath but Luffy didn't care enough to listen. He had an idea. "You've ever been to an amusement park, Coby?"

Taking two steps at a time, Coby caught up to him at the bottom of the stairs. "No. Why do you ask?"

"We've got to use the time we have. Let's go to Sabaody."

 **.**

Being around Luffy left Coby at a constant state between excited, nervous and anxious. If he spent an entire day with him, he only wanted to sleep for the next two days to come. It was tiring enough to deal with Vice Admiral Garp's mood swings on a daily basis, the abrupt changes from jovial jester to strict supervisor. But Garp was only a mild breeze on a late summer day compared to his grandson.  
Luffy was the volatile storm that appeared in the calm sea only to vanish as quickly as it'd come, leaving your ship in shambles.

Right now was a bad moment. Luffy was usually easy to read – except for the few times he wasn't, the times that filled Coby's core with all-consuming unease. But right now, that stiff posture told him all that he needed to know. Luffy was gripping the balustrade so tightly, the veins in his arms were popping bumps into his smooth skin. He only froze up like that if he tried to suppress another fit of rage.

 _Turn around. Return to the city. He'll never know you've been here._ _This isn't safe._

Guilt filled him in an instant. Luffy was his friend, his savior. If it hadn't been for him, Coby would still be scrubbing floors and peeling potatoes on Lady Alvida's ship.

"Luffy!"

He continued standing still, watching the sea with flat eyes.

"Luffy!"

A weight eased off his chest when Luffy's grip loosened and his shoulders relaxed. Coby walked towards him with a big smile painted over his mouth. The expression became something more genuine when his friend's eyes lightened up in recognition and a huge, goofy grin spread over his face. Coby felt as if he'd jumped off a cliff and landed in a ball of cotton.

"Coby!" Luffy patted his back and lead the way down the stairs. "How're you? You're even taller than the last time I saw you!"

Luffy looked so genuinely happy to see him that Coby's guilt intensified at having thought ill of him minutes earlier. His friend was hopelessly tactless and direct. He wouldn't even be able to fake happiness if he wanted to. If he smiled the way he did now, it was only because he was honestly glad to see Coby.

A little embarrassed, Coby scratched his head. "I'm in a growth spurt. Why're you here? Didn't think I'd see you today."

And just like that, the storm had returned and the unruly waves were rocking with growing fervor against the ship. Luffy halted mid-step, his spine stiffened and his lips pressed into a tight line. The eyes had lost their sheen. He was somewhere else.  
Before the waves could flip the ship over, Coby gripped his friend's wrist and pulled him further along the stairs, babbling something about his holidays and Vice Admiral Garp.

The change of mood was as sudden as always. Luffy relaxed and talked about his grandfather and complained about his lack of free time until Coby managed to ease into the conversation. He liked this. The easy back and forth of casual banter, no looming threat, no particular destination. But of course, Luffy got bored.

He giggled, something that worried Coby. Luffy's giggling could be the harbinger of anything – a good meal, a life-threatening fight, or a strangely-shaped cloud.

"You've ever been to an amusement park, Coby?"

"No. Why do you ask?"

"We've got to use the time we have. Let's go to Sabaody."

Coby mulled it over. "That actually doesn't sound so bad." He followed Luffy's lead down the next set of stairs until they arrived at the city. "I've never been at the Sabaody Archipelago before. You?"

Luffy nodded. "You'll like it. Many different places with a lot of different people. Some of them are horrible. But the amusement park – you'll love it!"

Finally, they reached the outskirts of the city. He recognized Luffy's ship immediately. Only one person would paint stick figures on the sails of a Marine ship. Coby sighed. "Why do you do this? You're a representative of the Marine, you know. You should-"

A rubber-arm wrapped around his waist and suddenly he was in the air, the wind whipping against his face, Luffy's laugh screeching next to his ear. Coby yelled until his throat was sore and he finally crashed onto the wooden deck.

"Captain Luffy!" the crew saluted. Coby could barely hear them, his own pants too loud, his ears still ringing.

"Alright," Luffy said as he accepted the coat a recruit offered and perched it across his shoulders. "We're taking off to Sabaody!"

In careful silence the crew watched their Captain. They knew the importance of evaluating his mood before speaking up. If Luffy was at high spirits, he was a joy to work under. He didn't care about rules, threw many parties and respected each of them as his equal. But if Luffy was in a bad place, it was better to remain in safe distance as to not provoke one of his notorious fits.

"On an order from above, sir?" a recruit asked.

"No orders yet," Luffy said. "I don't know how much more time we have, though. Not enough to explore a new island." Coby didn't miss the sighs of relief. 'Explore a new island' on the Grand Line under Luffy's lead probably came a little too close to 'dying'.

"So we'll go to Sabaody, get some good food and visit the amusement park!"

The men cheered and got to work when Luffy ordered to set sail. Coby's breathing had returned to a normal rhythm. With trembling feet, he stood up and leaned backwards against the rail. Luffy joined him, watching Marineford become smaller as the stream rocked them away.

Coby groaned. "I think I'm gonna be sick."

"The sea's right there. Don't make the men scrub your puke off the deck."

He bit his lip and took deep breaths to will his stomach to calm down. "How did you get these freaky powers anyway?"

"I ate a Devil Fruit."

Coby rolled his eyes. "Obviously. How'd you find it? Back in the East Blue, most people didn't even know they existed. We thought they were myths."

"Same on the island I'm from."

"What's the place's name?"

"Foosha Village."

"Never heard of it." Coby remembered his own village. A tiny, unimportant place now that he'd seen so much of the world. "Why'd you leave?"

"Gramps took me."

"Wait." Coby ran calculations through his head. Luffy must've joined the Marine early on for him to be a Captain at seventeen years old. "How old where you?"

Luffy looked up, watching the clouds pass by. "Five, I think."

"Five?!"

When Coby had been that age, he'd been playing with the other kids of his village, dreaming about becoming a brave Marine hero. He smiled. It'd been a dream. Now it was a definite goal.

"I didn't even know you could join that young." You probably couldn't. Vice Admiral Garp must've had his hand in it. "Was it hard?"

Luffy didn't answer. He was watching the sea again, his eyes flat, and Coby wondered what he was seeing. His shoulders weren't tense, though. "Luffy?"

"Why do you wanna know?"

"You know everything there is to know about me, after all." Luffy was usually so open and honest. Why was he evading an answer now?

"I never wanted to know everything about you. It's in the past. It's boring."

Coby huffed. "I disagree."

"It doesn't matter. Do you know what matters? What you're going to eat next. What place you're going to explore. What people you're going to meet."

Coby couldn't argue with Luffy-Logic because it wasn't like his friend would listen anyway. "Right now there's no food, no places, no people. And I'm interested in the past." He jabbed Luffy's side. "Come on, tell me. What was it like?"

Luffy turned around and checked the deck as if looking for something else to do. When he found nothing, he turned back to the sea. "Gramps dropped me off at the base in Loguetown. It sucked."

"That's why you left?"

The Captain remained silent.

"Luffy?"

"No." The downtrodden atmosphere that'd weighed Luffy down lifted as he broke out of his slump with a quiet giggle. "They begged Gramps to take me away."

Coby raised a brow. "What happened?"

"The base caught fire." He laughed. "A lot of damage. When everything was over, they didn't want to have to deal with me."

Coby stilled. His gaze focused on the leathery scar spreading from Luffy's right shoulder blade up to the side of his neck. He'd never spend a second thought on it. A battle scar, he'd assumed. He lowered his voice and said, "I'm sorry. That must've been horrible."

Luffy's grin remained. "That was the exciting part. It gets really boring after that."

"I'd still like to hear it."

"After the fire, Gramps brought me to the base at the Sabaody Archipelago. I was seven at that time. I stayed there, leaving the base with the crew every now and then, until I was thirteen. Then I became Ensign and they let me off to another base."

"When did you find the Gum-Gum Fruit?"

Luffy groaned. "Do you think I keep a calendar? I can't remember."

Large trees emerged in the distance and Luffy straightened up, jumping from one foot to the other. "We'll be there soon," he singsonged.

Coby jabbed him with his elbow. "How'd you find it?"

"Why? Do you wanna eat a Devil Fruit, too? You _have_ to get a cool one, Coby! A Zoan maybe? One that turns you into a…" He gripped his chin. "Let's see, something that turns you into a mix of weasel and… cow."

"What? No. I don't want to be a weasel-cow-mix."

"Are you sure? You could make your own milk and as a weasel… Well, it'd be pretty cool. Just imagine it. The back-part of a cow, the head-part of a weasel." He laughed and laughed until he was lying on the ground, gasping for breath. Coby felt vaguely ill.

"Are you done? Come on, tell me how you found the Gum-Gum Fruit."

Luffy kept laughing for another minute until he finally calmed down enough to stand up again. His huge grin didn't budge, though. "I snuck into a pirate's ship at one of the Groves when I was hungry. I thought it was a normal fruit. Tasted terrible."

Coby chuckled. "Which pirate was it?"

"The Red-Haired Shanks."

He drew a sharp breath. "The Emperor?!"

"Hmm… I don't know if he was an Emperor back then. But yeah, that's him. You know, the one with the, uh, red hair."

"Luffy!" How was this guy not dead yet? What were the chances? How much dumb luck could a single person have? "You could've been tortured, killed-"

"They were so drunk, they couldn't have done anything. I even asked the redhead where they kept their food and he showed me the way."

"That's a terrible way to approach pirates and-"

Luffy hopped over the rail and landed on the Grove Coby hadn't noticed they'd arrived at. '60' was written in white onto the large tree trunk. They were on the grove the local Marine base was stationed at.

"Hey, wait for me!" Not a year ago, Coby would be panting from trying to keep up with him. But these days, he was fit enough to close the gap between them without breaking into sweat. "Why're you hurrying?"

"I'm hungry."

Coby rolled his eyes but didn't bother scolding him. Luffy's gaze was focused, his stride confident and Coby decided to trust his friend's sense of direction for once. He'd lived on this base for some years, after all.

He startled when his baby transponder snail rang. Luffy groaned. "Just ignore it. Remember: food!"

Coby glared. "No way! That's incredibly irresponsible! If a soldier is called to duty-"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

He opened his mouth to demand to be taken serious, but closed it again. The snail was still ringing and he had no time for Luffy's childishness. He picked up. "Master Chief Petty Officer-."

" _Coby! It's me, Helmeppo. Where are you? We're being called in!"_

"What? I thought Vice Admiral Garp wouldn't have time for another two weeks or so. Did he change his mind?"

" _No. We're supporting Vice Admiral Momonga's men on some mission on the Calm Belt. "_

"Momonga? Whatever, I'll be there soon."

Coby ended the call and sighed. "Sorry, Luffy. Duty's calling."

Luffy huffed. "You're no fun."

Coby didn't allow himself to be pulled into another discussion. He had to be punctual if he didn't want to make a bad first impression on Vice Admiral Momonga. "I'll see you around." He gave Luffy a nod before returning to the base to search for a ship that'd sail to the Headquarters.

So much for going to the amusement park. Even if he wasn't being ordered around, the Marine found a way to ruin his fun. It'd be less cool now that Luffy was alone. Besides, he was still hungry, damn it!

He changed his route. So Grove Thirteen it was. He hoped Shakky's fridge was filled.

 **.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this opening to my new story:) It's been some time since I've published anything so I hope I haven't lost my touch.**

 **Heads up: None of the Straw Hats will make an appearance, but a few will be mentioned in passing. The story will be around ten chapters.**

 **There are a few things I'm unsure of and I'd be super grateful if I got your opinion:  
1\. What do you think about the changes in point of view? I like to switch it up to relatively often to look at a situation through different eyes (as seen in this chapter). What are your preferences?  
2\. How much of Luffy's past do you want to read about? Are you only interested in what's going happen from now on, or do you like to indulge in flashbacks? Something in-between?**

 **If you have any questions, feel free to write me a PM or leave a comment or contact me through tumblr (url:** _ **desiringparadise**_ **, link at my profile)! If there's something you didn't like about this chapter, or you would like to see improved, please tell me. I want to improve my writing and give you guys the best reading experience possible. This is only possible if I get constructive criticism.**

 **See you for the next chapter!**


	2. Chapter 2

**2**

 **.**

Shakky took a drag, let the familiar smoke fill her lungs and exhaled it as Luffy raided her supplies for the next few weeks. This place wasn't called _Shakky's Rip-off Bar_ for no reason. Her prices were insanely high and she made sure that every single customer paid – with violence if she had to. But whenever Luffy came around, _she_ was the one being ripped off.

Not that she could help it. Shakky was a tough woman, but even her heart softened into mush when the skinny boy looked at her with his wide, honest eyes and asked for a meal. He pretty much had free reign over her kitchen, which, admittedly, wasn't very good for business.

"Promoted, you say?"

He paused stuffing himself full of her fridge's contents. "Sucks, I know."

She grinned. "I don't know, I almost feel proud."

His eyes narrowed into a squint. "Why? It's a Marine rank. I should be using it to arrest you."

"Why aren't you?"

He smiled, exposing the half-chewed noodles between his teeth. A long time ago, she'd tried to teach him table manners. She'd given up soon. Shakky knew a lost case when she saw one.

"'Cause you're feeding me!"

"Watch out, honey. If you keep waxing poetic like that, I'll go weak at the knees." Luffy could be charming, but only if he didn't try.

"Where's Rayleigh? I haven't seen him around." Her fridge was finally empty. Luffy sat on a barstool, stroking his bloated belly.

"You know, doing what Rayleigh does. Picking up girls, drinking too much booze and gambling with more money than he can afford. I haven't seen him in a while."

"I wanna see him before I leave."

"They're already calling you in again?"

"Soon." He frowned, but the severity in his features got lost when he burped. "Something's coming up. Gramps says that they always promote you after or before something big happens."

The next drag tasted sour. "I've feared this would happen." The next week would bring an official execution date. A little part of her had hoped it wouldn't come to this point, but she'd always known. They could hardly keep the Pirate King's son to rot in prison forever. Whitebeard wouldn't allow it.

"It's good that Rayleigh showed you the ropes, or else I'd be worrying."

"You're too cool to worry, Shakky."

She chuckled. "You should take this serious. If I'm right," and she usually was, "none of us will remain unaffected." She stumped her cigarette out in the nearby ashtray, waiting for Luffy to demand elaboration. He didn't, probably already having lost interest.

"Don't be too reckless."

It was a piece of advice falling on deaf ears. Luffy wouldn't be Luffy if not for his recklessness. In all honesty, she wouldn't want him any other way. Spontaneity was good, kept the spirit young. It was the raging fury that'd kill it.

"Go find Rayleigh. And, Luffy?"

"Yeah?"

"Try and control yourself, will you?"

 **.**

The large, ivy-coated building left a bitter taste in Luffy's mouth.

After he'd visited the bars Rayleigh liked to drink and gamble at, he'd found out that the old man had let himself be sold off to pay his debts. But why? There was no chance that the Ray he knew would work as a slave.

And if he did, Luffy would kick his ass. It was already bad enough he had to stand in front of the Human Auctioning House.

Sometimes, when his superiors ordered him around, he couldn't imagine a worse job than his own. But every time he stood at this ugly place, he remembered that _this_ was the worst thing possible. No one had less freedom than a slave.

This house had to be burned to the ground. The prank he'd played on it when he was kid was long forgotten.

A woman, shackled at her wrists and ankles, was lead towards the backdoor by two slave traders. She was crying, her tears mixing with snot and blood dripping down her hairline. The salesman came out of the backdoor and started negotiating with the traders, talking about how he wouldn't pay more than two hundred thousand beri for damaged goods, how he needed a pretty face to present to the crowd.

 _"We work for justice, Luffy. It's for everyone's good, Luffy. Whatever you do, don't become like your father, Luffy,"_

"I'm nothing like my father, Gramps," he muttered under his breath and searched his pants pockets. Two taws, one red, the other one blue, and an old stripe of cherry gum that'd still taste good.

For the first time in his life, he was looking forward to seeing the Celestial Dragons.

 **.**

Law's hackles rose when he heard scuffling from the back of the hall. Someone had entered and was standing at the far end of the hall, near the entrance. "Shit," he grumbled as the guy descended the stairs at the side. He'd been interested in watching the show. It hadn't even started yet.

Bepo, who was sitting next to him, turned around. "What now, Captain?" he whispered.

The Marine closed in on them, his large coat swaying over his skinny form. To his surprise, the guy passed them by and took a free seat in the row in front of them. Had he missed them in the spare light? Possible, Law hadn't been able to make out his face either.

He was distracted by a Celestial Dragon arriving to the show. While the rest of the audience reverentially watched him walk to the front where the rest of his family was seated, Law's gaze slipped to the other pirate captain in the room.

Kid wasn't watching the empty stage or the Celestial Dragon, though. Catching Law's eyes, he lifted his chin and lay his head to the side, his gaze travelling past. Law followed his stare.

The Marine was giggling at nothing while chewing obnoxiously on some gum that smelled of artificial cherry. Weirdo.

Law wrinkled his nose when the stranger spat the gum into his palm and stuck it underneath his seat. Some people were just fucking disgusting.

"Are we leaving?" Bepo asked, leaning over. The crew was awaiting his decision.

"Not yet."

Before Bepo could protest, the guy they'd been observing turned around. Well shit. He waited for inevitable recognition to dawn over the boy's features. Instead, he kept on smiling, his eyes round and unsuspecting.

"Cool hat."

 _What?_

"Can I try it on?"

Law waited for... something. Nothing happened. "No."

The boy pouted. He must've stolen his dad's uniform or something. No wonder he hadn't tried to arrest them. He wasn't a Marine.

The stranger propped himself up and leaned with his arms against the back of his seat. "Are you a bear?"

"Yes, and I can talk," Bepo answered exasperatedly. He got that question way too often.

"Cool," the kid marvelled. "You should watch out, though."

His pitch-black eyes were glinting like marbles, his wide smile a little too big for his round face. This close, Law's trained eyes could distinguish a leathery scar spreading over the right side of his neck.

"What do you mean?" Law demanded.

"The traders like to sell cool animals like you, y'know?"

"We can watch out for ourselves."

The boy stood up. "Everything's fine then." Just like he'd come, he left the hall with swift and light steps.

"We're leaving," Law said.

"Captain?"

"Hurry up."

Reluctantly, his men stood up and followed him out of the auction hall. Near the entrance, Kid and his crew caught up. "What was the Marine's deal?" Kid demanded.

Just as Law was about to answer that it was none of his business, an ear-shattering noise cracked through the hall. For a few seconds, he was deaf but for the ringing in his ears. The earth was shaking. An explosion.

Light streamed into the formerly dimly-lit auction house. The wall the Heart Pirates had been sitting next to had been blown off, leaving a gaping hole in the size of a single-story house behind. People were running towards the exit, the hole, the stage. Some fell and got trampled over by the rest. Their screams were almost as loud as the explosion.

Law checked his crew members. Luckily, there'd been enough distance for the impact not to have reached them.

"Damn it," Kid growled, "What the hell was that?"

"An assassin or a revolutionist." Law said.

Kid frowned, staring at the panicked crowd. "We're fucked."

 **.**

The guards and the salesman left right after the explosion. They must've left the keys, because the captives followed shortly after. Rayleigh was among the last.

He was walking slow, not minding the yelling people frantically sprinting away. He stopped in front of the tree Luffy was sitting on. The smell of rum was wafting all the way up to the highest branches.

"Did you have another episode?"

"You mean an accident?"

Rayleigh smiled. "I see we're playing dumb today."

Luffy continued watching the Auction House. The flames weren't too high and the smoke had almost lifted. But not everyone had escaped. There were still screams coming from inside.

Luffy felt light enough to mingle with the smoke and fly into the sky. The bugs in his fingers were finally all gone.

"Are you disappointed?" he asked the patiently waiting Rayleigh.

"Should I be?"

"You weren't the last time. Or else you wouldn't have started training me."

"That was seven years ago. You were a little kid who hid dead fish underneath the seats. The stench never left the fabric and drove the sales down. That was funny."

"And _this_ isn't?"

"The Celestial Dragons were injured."

Luffy jumped down and landed in front of him. _"Good."_

Rayleigh chuckled. "Luffy?"

"Yeah?"

"I won't lie, it was mighty funny. You should've seen the guards run over themselves to get away."

Luffy laughed. That's what he loved about Ray. He knew how to have a good time and didn't take himself too serious. There were no orders with him, no rules. When they were training the Haki, it was because Luffy wanted to. He was never forced to do anything.

Ray was laughing, too. "I should be too old for this shit."

When neither of them could laugh anymore, Luffy slipped his fingers into his pants pockets, toying with the last taw.

"Rayleigh?"

"Hm?"

"You think they'll call an Admiral over?"

He chuckled. "Definitely. Since a Celestial Dragon got injured, things will be crazy for a while. If someone saw you planting that bomb, you'll be in trouble, kid."

Would that be a bad thing? He'd finally get fired, that was for sure. What then? Nothing? This Marine-thing was everything he'd done all his life. Quitting always seemed like a good idea when he got angry, when he didn't care about anything else and all these rules and orders wouldn't let him breathe.

Now, he could only think of Gramps and his tear-stained face almost ten years ago on the way to Sabaody. _"It's for the best, Luffy. Please, whatever you do, don't become like your father. I only do this to keep you on the right path."_ It'd been the first and only time he'd seen his grandfather cry.

"They can't find out about this."

Rayleigh raised an eyebrow. "You're your own judge. If you don't want to be find out, we'll have to get you out of this."

Luffy shook his head. "No, I don't want your help. You're my friend and my teacher, not my superior."

Rayleigh sighed. "You've developed some complexes."

Luffy's forehead crinkled. "What?"

"You've got some twisted views, is what I mean to say."

"Twisted views... On freedom?"

"On friendship."

Luffy pulled his coat off his shoulders and pushed his arms through the sleeves. "Be quick. You shouldn't be here when the Admiral comes around."

"I'll leave if you promise me not to start a fight with him."

"I won't _start_ a fight."

Rayleigh snorted. "Who knew you could be this sly? Give us a visit before you leave the Archipelago, alright?"

Finally, Luffy eased up and brought out his infectious smile. "I will."

"Be careful."

Luffy didn't give an answer. Rayleigh didn't honestly expect one.

 **.**

 **A/N: I want to thank everyone who reviewed on the last chapter:) You guys are the best and your response is what keeps me going. I hoped you guys enjoyed this chapter. Criticism is, as always, welcome ( _honestly!_ ). Give me all your opinions!**

 **By the way, of course, Luffy isn't some mastermind who can build bombs in his free time or anything like that lol. I will reveal later on how he managed to blow the place up and what role Law, Rayleigh etc. will play.**

 **Happy Holidays if you're reading this today and see you for the next chapter! xx**


End file.
